Roof leak - please help!

[Alkaline3]

I’ve had some mould in the corner of a room, cleaned it off and repainted it only for the paint to peel off the next day. Roofer has just been over and is 99% sure (he hasn’t been up to check) that it’s a broken tile or broken flashing letting in water.

He won’t be able to come out and fix for 4-5 weeks and says there’s a chance the lathe and plaster ceiling might fall in but wasn’t able to suggest anything I can do in the meantime to stop it getting worse is he right or can anyone suggest something?

Not to be flippant but I suggest getting another roofer who can come and fix it sooner!

I agree with @Ecthelion

Without being flippant - it is the obvious solution

Yes, get another roofer. I had a room (luckily a spare room) with an awkward mix of pitched rooftops meeting. It had a small and slow leak, clearly for quite some time. By the time it was visible in the room, all the old large and plaster and the timber lintel were rotting/coming away. Nightmare that cost a lot to put right. Don’t leave it five weeks.

I've just had this. Fortunately I know a roofer from having previous work done and he fixed it promptly. (But not cheaply!)

There may not be much you can do, it depends on where exactly the rain is coming in.

If you can get up in the loft and see exactly where it's coming in, you could see if you can get a bowl under it to catch the water. But if it's coming in via the flashing, you might not be able to do that.

Or you could try drilling a small hole in the ceiling where the damp place is to let the water out, and putting a bucket under that.

When you come to repaint, you'll probably need to use a sealant on the damp patch before you paint it.

Forgot to say, I am calling other roofers but they all seem to be busy at the moment - so much rain recently!

@MarySidney from having a look in the roof there’s no obvious leak, I think it’s the flashing so running down the wall. Good suggestion to try drilling the hole, have you tried it before? Slightly worried it might make the ceiling more likely to come down!

If anyone knows any good roofers in the Bristol area please let me know I’ve been getting a lot of answerphone messages

I haven't tried drilling, but I think I've seen it suggested. Try looking on some diy sites. With a previous leak I had, water was coming through an existing screw hole where a fixture had been removed. If not for that, I might not have known about the leak until the ceiling collapsed!

I think with it being the flashing, it is more difficult because as you say it's running straight down the wall.

Okay thank you all for help. Ive found someone who can come out in 4 weeks - hopefully that’s soon enough to save the ceiling!